Pore structure control of porous carbon obtained from phenol formaldehyde resin and ethylene glycol: the effect of HBO on the pore structure.

Boric acid was used as a source of complexing agent to change phase separation kinetics and dynamics of the resin-glycol system to regulate the pore structure of porous carbon. The results show that the addition of HBO in the resin mixtures can change the polymerization dynamics during curing of resin-glycol mixtures. For the complexation of HBO to diols, the size of the ethylene glycol-rich phase produced during the curing of the resin mixture increase with the increase of the content of HBO. Similarly, the pore size of porous carbon after pyrolysis increases with the increase of HBO content. The average pore size of resulting porous carbon can be regulated in the range from 15 to 2754 nm. These results reveal that HBO exhibited obvious effects in changing the pore structure of resin-glycol system during pyrolysis.